A Student Association cabinet member and SA senator are two of the three unofficial candidates who said they have filed nomination papers to run for Student Association president.

Independent Elections Commissioner Cassandra Gauthier said that she will release the official list of candidates once all nomination papers are verified.

Samantha Prahl, the SA chief of staff, is running along with Jon Tingley, vice presidential candidate, with the United Student Voice.

Sen. Joseph Ohler, and Kevin O’ Connor, vice presidential candidate, are running with the Alternative Party (ALT).

“I chose to run because next year is going to be a critical time for the students on this campus with (to name a few) the hiring of a new Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and vital Parking and Transit decisions,” Prahl said.

“I believe that I am the best candidate to handle matters like these because I have experience and knowledge of the subject. The students need someone who can walk in the door on June 1, and be ready to fight these fights amongst many others on behalf of the 28,000 students on this campus.”

Prahl’s overall goal is to unite students on campus by advocating for students that do not always know the campaigns being run and the effects.

“It is my goal to inform the students that the money they pay towards segregated fees that go towards the Student Association is being spent in an effective way,” Prahl said. “Communication between the Student Association and the students needs to be increased so we can have a united student body.”

Ohler said his reason for running was summed up in one word: re-enfranchisement.

Concerned about rhetoric taking priority over actual measures to assist students, Ohler joined the race. He said he feels that many key proposals are being pushed aside by the senate due to lack of student involvement.

“Besides the legislative failure of student-friendly proposals, the more controversial bills presented to the SA Senate are poorly advertised to the campus community,” he said.

“In many instances it is only a group of about 30 senators voting on an issue that affects the entire campus, and most of the time there is no broad sampling of student opinion on the matter. It is critical that all SA officials strive to know the opinions of students beyond those of their colleagues.

“There has been far too little initiative for officials to gather input from students about such issues as textbook exchange and the consolidation of the funding process for the Office of Student Life.”

The current unofficial list of candidates for the President and Vice President positions in the 2006 SA election:

• Joseph Ohler and Kevin O'Connor (ALT)
• Chris Larson and Annya Robertson (MKE)
• Samantha Prahl and Jon Tingley (USV)

“An official announcement of candidates should be made by Tom McGinnity and/or myself next week after the signatures have been looked at by the SAO office,” Gauthier said.

“Basically, the one thing I want people to understand about the elections is that I would like the process to be accessible to everyone and that every student should feel compelled to lead and help their university and I expect everyone that is announced as a candidate will conduct themselves appropriately and will run a clean campaign. I will not tolerate anything else,” Gauthier said in an e-mail.

The elections are to be held on April 26 and 27.

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